Halving
| A halving event is when the rewards given to miners for validating transactions or creating new blocks is cut in half. This happens every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every 4 years. The last halving occurred in 2016, and the next one is expected to happen in 2020. The purpose of a halving event is to control the supply of new bitcoins. By cutting the rewards in half, it takes twice as long for miners to generate new bitcoins. This slows the rate at which new bitcoins are created, which helps to keep inflation in check. Halvings are a key part of Bitcoin's design, and are one of the main reasons why the cryptocurrency has been so successful. They help to ensure that Bitcoin remains scarce, which is a key driver of its value. So, what happens to miners when a halving occurs? In the short-term, miners may see their profits decrease as their rewards are cut in half. However, in the long-term, halvings are generally seen as positive for miners. That's because they help to keep Bitcoin's price high, which more than makes up for the reduced rewards. Miners play a vital role in Bitcoin's ecosystem, and halvings help to ensure that they can continue to profitably participate in the network. This, in turn, helps to keep Bitcoin secure and decentralized. |
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